In this Feb. 10, 2013 file photo made with multiple flash exposures, a model pulls on an electronic cigarette backstage before a fashion show in New York.

Written by

Opinion column by John Packham

The regulation of electronic cigarettes will be one of the most hotly debated health policy topics in 2014.

E-cigarettes are battery-powered nicotine-delivery devices that mimic the look and feel of smoking by converting heated, nicotine-laced liquid into a vapor that almost instantly evaporates.

While e-cigarette manufacturers promise a less harmful and more socially acceptable alternative to conventional cigarettes, which use nicotine to addict and combustible tobacco to kill, current evidence of e-cigarette safety and therapeutic efficacy remains thin. ...